#serialized

CoatTale Master post

for ease of convenience when reading, here is the Master post. This will updated as the comic goes along with both pages and character design stuff. Hope you have fun readin.

Character references (will be updated periodically while working on the comic)

Frisk Chara Toriel Dummy

Opening (Cover art- page 17)

Cover-3 4-5 6-7 8-9 10-11 12-13 14-15 16-17

Bonus pages

1-4 bonus pages 5-6 bonus pages break time sketch

Ruins (page 18-idk)

It's true. Xena's format was very much the same as many actual sci-fi TV shows of the time like Star Trek: Voyager, The X Files, Sliders...

Even Buffy to some degree. Although I would never class that as sci-fi. That was known as 'monster-of-the-week'. Which is different still.

But yes, episodic was a self-contained story in one episode and the next episode would be something entirely different. Possibly even a different tone or genre. There was very little serialized storytelling.

So it meant that you could stop watching Xena whenever and then pick back up with it whenever. Binge-watching wasn't a thing then. There was no necessity to consume the entire season all in one go. No rush out of the anxiety that the show might suddenly just get axed. 

None of that bullshit. The worst we had was wondering whether the network would permit it to carry on into another season. But that current season would be fully produced and ready to be aired with a conclusion. They wouldn't leave you on a cliffhanger unless it was purposeful for them to, knowing they would return in a new season.

Yes, the landscape for TV art/entertainment was entirely different to what it is now. It allowed for so much. Had so much more freedom. 

We've gone backwards when it comes to that freedom. No doubts about it. But there is a legitimate and justifiable reason for why seasons aren't that long anymore. It's not just about budget. It's about the worker's safety and well-being. Lucy and Renee were thoroughly exhausted by the time of Season 6. They loved the show but they wanted it to end because they wanted a break. A significant break to be with their families and to pursue other interests and opportunities. We may miss the episodic structure of 22-24 episodes per season but there's good reason why that's all stopped at least for their sakes. 

Now the question of... does a season have to be as short form as it is nowadays is really a question better to be asked of the network or streaming service because it really is more down to them why a TV show can only exist for a couple of episodes and then get axed just like that without a conclusion for that season's serialized storytelling because obviously they have the content to be aired or I guess... activated... they just refuse to let it be. Axed means cancellation. Means no more episodes. Not even if they've already been done.

That's different. That's not legitimate or justifiable for safeguarding.

That's just fucked up and not appreciating their viewership who have invested their time, attention and money into watching that TV show nor appreciating their employees who have worked their asses off to deliver this piece of TV art/entertainment to best quality they could.

22-24 episodes is too much. Understandable. But 8-10 is too short. I think I watched a TV show that was 6 episodes long once. It was a self-contained short story in a miniseries so that was fine. But TV shows are getting shorter and shorter within a season without the plan of having it be a self-contained short story. In fact they're meant to be much longer than a few episodes but the network or streaming service just axes it right out of the blue and there's nothing the showrunners can do to dispute that or prevent that from happening. It's hard work wasted. It's resources wasted. It's money wasted. It's just senseless waste over and over again and yet the excuse always seems to be to save money because "It's too expensive". But there is nothing "too expensive" about letting a show continue its story if that content has already been written, produced and filmed. There's just no reason to just stop airing all the episodes for that season's story. Only to not continue it into a new season which hasn't been done yet. It might have been conceived already but there's no tangible evidence of its existence yet. That makes sense. It sucks but it makes sense. What doesn't make any sense is having a cancellation follow through immediately as soon as it's announced to the showrunner - which is what is happening now a lot of the time and it's fucked up and needs to stop because nobody is fucking happy about it happening this way.

There is a happy medium as far as how long a TV show should be within a season when it's serialized storytelling. 12-15 episodes.

The other option is to go back to the episodic format and structure once again. That way you're not really wasting anything nor does the audience feel like they're missing out on anything. "Episodic" means a self-contained story in that episode and something different next time. Same characters but a different story each time. Each episode.

Going back to Xena - that was in a time when they were just moving out of episodic and moving into serialized so sometimes you would have the episodic story leave narrative tidbits that would continue into a future episode at some point down the line. Then you would have the much more consistent situation of a two-episodic narrative arc or even a trilogy narrative arc. Then the most consistent situation would be a character arc where the storytelling might be different episode to episode but the representation and development for a specific lead character would be continuous within those episodes. 

So they could do what they did with Xena and other TV shows of the time again... it's just will people accept it going back to that format?

A lot of people are used to serialized storytelling now. They're used to stories carrying across multiple episodes if not the entire season. They're used to genres, themes and tones always being the same and never a mix-and-match of whatever they could come up with. They're not used to what you get in Xena or The X Files or Buffy or Charmed. 

They might not be used to it... but they do want it because they don't know what they're missing without it. They don't know the freedom of it. They don't know the crazy fun and shenanigans of what THAT is.

It could go back to this if they're really struggling for another option. A way to satisfy both the network or streaming service and the fans. 

Because just cancelling a serialized story out of the blue like that is not good enough. It's a really shitty thing to do to both the fans and the showrunner and everybody that has put time and effort into it. 

These people are not going to give up on their passion. Be it on the creative side or the consuming side. Creator and consumer alike. So either we come up with better solutions... or we start a fucking riot because I am not being apart of this cancellation culture anymore.

I've had enough. I either want them to make it 12-15 eps per season or to go back to the episodic format and structure I know so well. I don't want to start watching a TV show, get invested in the stories, the characters, the themes and the dynamics for it to be fucking axed.

What is the point in that? Why do people accept that? It's not right. You expect a consumer. I expect to consume the full fucking thing. 

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy at this point. We're just in a loop with it. And I don't know about you guys but I want to get out of this loop.

'Good Trans News' is an ongoing, serialised, dystopian trans novel. To read more of it (and get up to date), follow me on Instagram here or visit my website here. I am going to start uploading it here on Tumblr though, so if you enjoy it - please do stick around.

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CHAPTER 1

The Women’s Institute will no longer allow transgender members. Trans girls banned from Girlguiding. Labour bans trans women from Women’s Conference. The Trump Administration plans to end prison rape protections for trans people, memo says. 

All of this has been announced in one week (and it’s not even Saturday yet). 

This morning I opened my advent calendar and, where a chocolate should have been, was instead a cyanide capsule - and a short, cursive, seasonal message reading: Do it, tranny. I didn’t, of course. I wouldn’t be writing this now if I had - but I did put it away somewhere safe, about my person, just in case.

I am no longer leaving the flat. I Deliveroo or JustEat everything I need right to my door. Hot dinners, groceries, tobacco - cyanide capsules. Even a phone charging cable if I need it. I don’t, but I’ve ordered 5 anyway. You never know, these days. Why leave the flat? Why risk it? I have a toilet here, and I can use it whenever I like with no stipulations (and I need to, often - due to all the fast food). 

Socialising isn’t necessary anymore. All my friends are inside my phone, inside of apps. And when they’re not available, I have the comments sections and DMs. And when no one's there, I chat with my favourite AI chatbot on Amazon - making up fake complaints and refund claims for conversation.

A letter just dropped through my letter box. It’s from the government - they say they’re commandeering my toilet. It’s going to a ‘biological woman who needs it’ - to make up for all the times I unlawfully used a public ladies room in the past 15 years. Tomorrow, I can expect some men to come by and take it out. They will leave me with one gratis box of hazardous waste bags, which when out I’ll need to pay to be refilled. 

Some good news! I received a phone call from the Women’s Institute, and they say they are creating a new division to cater to their trans former-members. It’ll be called The Trans Women’s Institute. The address is a hospital, and membership is mandatory. They’re sending a van on Sunday to pick me. I’m very excited to be ‘Institutionalised’ - as they put it. 

I’ve lost my cyanide capsule. Typical me. I shouldn’t have scrimped on the next-day delivery. I’ll be off to The Institute before the new ones arrive. Oh well. 

CHAPTER 2

More good news! The men who came to confiscate my toilet were actually really nice. One of them said I had a ‘good bum’, and it made me feel valid. One problem - they didn’t quite disconnect the pipes properly and now I have water flooding my bathroom. Luckily, I don’t need to worry about my flat anymore, they say - as I’ll be off to the Trans Women’s Institute soon enough, where I’m told I’ll live in peace with all my other trans sisters. Joy of joys!

The more I think about the idea, the more I come to understand it. I can see how it’s probably for the best. Society just doesn’t get us - and I guess they never will. Separatism has benefits. At least I’ll be around people who get me.

It’s 4 o’clock, and a few minutes ago there was a loud knocking on my door. Men and women in white jumpsuits came up to my flat, and now they’re packing a bag for me. No clothes needed - they say they have a new wardrobe waiting for me at The Institute. That’s wonderful, because I’ve given up on looking nice lately. Every time I buy a new dress, or top, or whatever, the sizes don’t ever quite work out. I’m not allowed to use ladies changing rooms, so I’ve had to order all my clothes online, and just guess the size. 

They say I can bring my notebook, but no electronics. No phone. No laptop. Probably for the best - as we’ve all become attached to them, haven’t we? It’ll be a nice little holiday away from doom scrolling. As we leave the flat, water is pouring out from the hole where my toilet used to be. They tell me it’s going to a biological woman named Christina who is having a third bathroom put in, and needs it to match her tiling. It feels good to give back. 

The back of the van is comfy enough. I’m sitting next to two girls I’ve never met before. New friends! One looks younger than me - blonde, skinny and very well passing. She could be a model. The other is older, and is crying. I ask her what her name is, and she tells me Emily. She says her cat was confiscated. I tell her not to worry - it’ll most probably have a good home with a kind, heteronormative family who’ll have enough shared income to treat it better. Give it premium food, and such.

The Institute is a chance for us to ‘escape the conflicting pressures of a sane society’ where ‘transsexuals can be free to exist as they are’ - that’s according to this pamphlet anyway. There is a photoshopped image on the front of a sisterhood of smiling trans women, arm in arm, in what appears to be a beautiful garden. 

The younger blonde girl hasn’t spoken to me. She has her head up against the window, and is muttering something to herself that I can’t quite make out. 

She’ll come around, I’m sure. This is all for the best really - God knows I was struggling to afford the rent. And, according to this pamphlet here, I’ll ‘never have to worry about any of that again’. So that’s something. 

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More at:

jeniveswords.substack.com lobotomyworld.substack.com jenives.net

Contact: [email protected]

You can also join the SECRET DOSSIER group (FREE) to gain access to EXTRA documents and insight into this story. Find the link on my Instagram profile.

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His “Is Doctor Who Outdated” video to be precise.

On the one hand, yes, Doctor Who's long standing episodic approach might put it at odds with the rest of the streaming service originals. Yet on the other hand, what would we stand to lose if all of a sudden we went the all-banger-no-filler route? Is there a middle ground?

Hell, Classic Who had what were essentially made for TV movies divided into 4 or 6 episodes but each was still its own entity. The only overarching storylines involves a new companion joining or leaving as well as Trial of a Time Lord which, even then, had each adventure as a self contained adventure viewed by Six on trial.

I think that Series 1, for an opening season at that, had a good balance between an overall storyline and a myth arc with each episode contributing to what would eventually come:

Rose and The End of The World are pretty much a two parter premiere.

The Unquiet Dead sets up the Rift that would later be used to charge the TARDIS in Boom.

Aliens of London and World War Three establishes a lot from the One Year Jump to UNIT returning as well as Harriet Jones. You know who she is. ;)

Dalek... is what it says on the tin.

The Long Game isn't that obvious aside from Adam from the last episode but the setting lays the groundwork for the finale.

Father's Day is a character building episode for Rose and would be a part of the finale.

The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances establishes Jack Harkness.

Boom picks up where World War Three left off and sets up the heart of the TARDIS as well as show Rose and Mickey's relationship strain more.

Bad Wold and The Parting of Ways brings it all together.

Hell, if DW didn't get renewed, it would still be a satisfying self-contained narrative for the Ninth Doctor going out on a smile.